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Cultivating a state of mind where new ideas are born
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Henrik Karlsson's essay argues solitude cultivates new ideas, citing Altman's 2015 tweet. The piece critiques coworking spaces for killing fragile great ideas.
Background
The essay, published on Henrik Karlsson's Substack, explores the creative state of mind that fosters original thought. It draws on examples from artists and thinkers like Picasso, Baldwin, and Dylan, and analyzes the working notes of mathematician Alexander Grothendieck and filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. The piece was recently shared on Hacker News and social media, sparking discussion.
How it unfolded
- 2015Sam Altman, then president of Y Combinator, tweeted that not providing coworking spaces is part of what makes YC work.
- 2019In an interview with Tyler Cowen, Altman explained that great ideas are fragile and coworking spaces can kill them.
- recentlyThe essay 'Cultivating a state of mind where new ideas are born' by Henrik Karlsson is shared on Hacker News and social media, gaining attention.
Who’s saying what
- Author
- Solitude is a state of mind where opinions of others don't bother you, allowing heightened sensitivity to larval ideas.
- Altman
- Coworking spaces kill off the best ideas because people change their ideas to sound plausible to avoid ridicule.
Still unverified
The essay's claim that coworking spaces have no famous success stories is an opinion and not empirically verified.